On the evening of 8 May, Alton Natural History Society did a walk in Chawton Park Wood in the couple of hours up to and past dusk. It was fairly cold so there were few warblers singing. However a Firecrest could be heard in the tall conifers at the top. There were plenty of Song Thrushes and Blackbirds in song, with the "last to sing" being Robins with at least 10 singing along the main climb. A total of 6 Tawny Owls were heard - 4 hooting and two ke-wicking.
The main purpose of the walk was to see roding Woodcock. The first seen were at 20:57 with two flying low together. We then had a total of approx 10 sightings flying over low, patrolling. Impossible to tell how many different birds were involved.
